Abstract - Vysoké učení technické v Brně

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VYSOKÉ UČENÍ TECHNICKÉ V
BRNĚ
BRNO UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
FAKULTA PODNIKATELSKÁ
ÚSTAV INFORMATIKY
FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT
INSTITUTE OF INFORMATICS
I NF OR MA TI ON S YS TE M F O R E S N S E C TI O N
INFORMAČNÍ SYSTÉM PRO ESN SEKCI
B A K A L Á ŘS K Á P RÁ CE
BACHELOR'S THESIS
A U TO R P RÁ CE
F R A NTI Š E K H RO MA DA
AUTHOR
V E D O U CÍ P RÁ C E
SUPERVISOR
BRNO 2013
I n g . J a n L u h a n P h . D.
Abstract
Bachelor thesis mainly focuses on designing an information
s ys t e m w h i c h s u p p o r t s m a i n p r o c e s s e s o f I n t e r n a t i o n a l S t u d e n t s
Club of Brno University of Technology and other sections of
Erasmus
Student
Network.
Thesis
contains
theoretical
part,
a n a l ys i s o f c u r r e n t s t a t e a n d p r o p o s a l o f i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m .
Abstra kt
Bakalářská
informačního
práce
systému
se
zaměřuje
pro
především
podporu
na
v yt v o ř e n í
hlavních
procesů
M e d z i n á r o d n í h o s t u d e n t s k é h o k l u b u V ys o k é h o u č e n í t e c h n i c k é h o
v B r n ě a j i n ýc h s e k c í E r a s m u s S t u d e n t N e t w o r k . P r á c e o b s a h u j e
teoretickou část, popis současného stavu, jeho souhrn a návrh
i n f o r m a č n í h o s ys t é m u .
Keyw ords
I n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m , d a t a b a s e , b u d d y s y s t e m , I S C V U T , E S N ,
Erasmus
Klíčov á slo va
I n f o r m a č n í s ys t é m , d a t a b á z e , b u d d y s y s t e m , I S C V U T , E S N ,
Erasmus
Bibliog ra phical quo ta tion o f the thesis
HROMADA, F. Information System For ESN Section. Brno: Brno
U n i v e r s i t y o f T e c h n o l o g y, F a c u l t y o f B u s i n e s s a n d M a n a g e m e n t ,
2012. 68 p. Supervisor: Ing. J an Luhan Ph.D.
Čestné pro hlášení
Prohlašuji, že předložená bakalářská práce je
zpracoval
jsem
ji
samostatně.
Prohlašuji, že
původní a
c i t a c e p o u ž i t ýc h
pramenů je úplná, že jsem ve své práci neporušil autorská práva
( v e s m ys l u Z á k o n a č . 1 2 1 / 2 0 0 0 S b . , o p r á v u a u t o r s k é m a o p r á v e c h
s o u v i s e j í c í c h s p r á v e m a u t o r s k ým ) .
V Brně dne 31. května 2013
Sta tuto ry decla ra tion
I hereby declare that this bachelor thesis has been written by
me without any external unauthorized help, that it has been neither
presented
published.
to
All
any
institution
used
for
information
evaluation
sour ces
are
nor
previously
properly
including complete reference to the original work.
In Brno, 31st May 2013
...............................
František Hromada
cited
Acknow ledg ments
I am grateful to Ing. Jan Luhan PhD., my supervisor, for
providing me with support and information, which allowed me to
shape the thesis to meet the content requirements.
I am also grateful to Ing. J akub Šiška MSc. , alumni of ISC
VUT, for his time and valuable suggestions.
I would like to thank to ISC VUT Brno, m y home section of
Erasmus Student Network which gave my inspiration and support
when was needed.
Last not least I would like to thank all people from ESN
Czech Republic and ESN international who shared their knowledge
and experiences to (ISC VUT Brno 2013) made this thesis possible.
Table of co ntent
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 10
1
2
Theoretical background .......................................................................................... 12
1.1
Data, information and knowledge ........................ 12
1.2
I n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3
1.3
ICT ................................................................ 13
1.4
Software ......................................................... 14
1.5
Hardware ........................................................ 15
1.6
Orgware .......................................................... 15
1.7
Peopleware ...................................................... 15
1.8
Management .................................................... 16
1.9
Database ......................................................... 16
1.10
Entity–relationship model .................................. 17
1.11
Implementation of IS ........................................ 20
Current situation analysis........................................................................................ 22
2.1
Organization background ISC VUT Brno .............. 22
2.2
Board ............................................................. 23
2.3
Team .............................................................. 23
2.4
Board positions description ................................ 23
2.5
Team positions description ................................ 25
2.6
Internal Communication structure ....................... 31
2.7
Active internal communication ........................... 31
2.8
Passive internal communication .......................... 36
2.9
B u d d y s ys t e m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 8
2.10
Events ............................................................ 39
2.11
Human resources management ............................ 41
2.12
3
Evaluation ....................................................... 42
Proposal .................................................................................................................. 43
3.1
Database ......................................................... 44
3.2
Modules .......................................................... 49
3.3
Forms ............................................................. 50
3.4
Description of processes .................................... 52
3.5
User groups ..................................................... 57
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 58
References ....................................................................................................................... 60
List of figures .................................................................................................................. 62
List of tables.................................................................................................................... 62
Appendices...................................................................................................................... 64
Introductio n
The
Erasmus
Programme
(EuRopean
Community
Action
Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) is flagship project
of European Union (EU) in field of education established in 1987
as part of the EU Lifelong Learning Programme 2007 –2013 (NAEP
2013).
Erasmus
Student
Network
(ESN)
is
one
of
the
biggest
interdisciplinary student associations in Europe. It was established
on 16th October 1989 and legally registered in 1990 for supporting
and developing student exchange. ESN has 12.000 members from
427 local sections in 36 countries working on a volunteer base in
Higher Education Institutions and offering services to 160.000
students (ESN AISBL 2013) .
Erasmus
Student
Network
Czech
Republic
(ESN
CZ)
is
member since 2001 and currently has 15 local sections with
mission is to foster student mobility in Czech Higher Education
under the principle of Stude nts Helping Students. All together
sections of ESN CZ help roughly 4 000 international students every
a c a d e m i c ye a r . ( E S N C Z 2 0 1 3 )
International Student Club of Brno University of Technology
(ISC VUT Brno) was established in 2 004 with just 40 ex change
students. Today is taking care around 450 exchange students per
a c a d e m i c ye a r w i t h m a i n a c t i v i t i e s a s b u d d y s ys t e m a n d e v e n t s
organizing (ISC VUT Brno 2013) .
ISC VUT Brno has growing number of ex change students over
t h e ye a r s w h i c h r e q u i r e d a d d i t i o n a l v o l u n t e e r s . L a r g e r a m o u n t o f
human capital needs appropriate management and therefore came
idea of this bachelor thesis to design a tool for the process
management of ESN section.
10
ESN network stand on the idea of mutual sharing of best
p r a c t i c e s a n d k n o w h o w s o t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m w o u l d b e
available to other ESN sections, which would provide also valuable
feedback from larger user base.
During my work I will rely on my experiences on different
levels of ESN - observing member, president of the section, who
helped establish many processes and as National Representative of
ESN
CZ,
who
attended
many
international
events
and
had
possibility to confront ideas with other sections of the network.
For the analysis part I will combine previous experiences
with my knowledge acquired during studies to describe main
processes of an ESN section, followed by design proposal of
i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m , w h i c h s h o u l d m a k e d e s c r i b e d p r o c e s s e s m o r e
e f f e c t i v e , r e s u l t i n g i n h i g h e r s t a f f e f f i c i e n c y a n d p r o d u c t i v i t y.
11
1 Theo retical backg ro und
Theoretical
part
should
provide
introduction
to
the
p r o b l e m a t i c o f i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m s . F u r t h e r o n t h e r e w i l l b e a
d e s c r i p t i o n o f i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m c o m p o n e n t s
and process of
implementation.
1 .1 D a t a , i n f o r ma t i o n a n d kn o w l e d g e
The terms data, information and knowledge are frequently
m i s u s e d a s s yn o n y m s . T h e m a i n d i f f e r e n c e i s i n t h e l e v e l o f
abstraction
where.
data
is
the
lowest
level
of
abstraction,
information is second, and on the top is knowledge (VALAC ICH,
2007, p. 20).
Figure 1: Data, information, knowledge(VALACICH, 2007, p. 20).
Data itself has no meaning. Data can be transformed into
information by interpretation if they have a meaning for subject .
Therefore they can create knowledge base for decision making and
also for better data transformation.
12
1 .2 I n f o r ma t i o n s y s t e m
I n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m ( I S ) i n c l u d e s p r o c e d u r e s , d a t a , s o f t w a r e ,
a n d h a r d w a r e t h a t a r e u s e d t o g a t h e r a n d a n a l yz e i n f o r m a t i o n . T h e
main
aim
of
IS
is
to
make
decision -making,
processes
and
information management effective. (VALAC ICH, 2007, p. 28)
However, the term IS and information technologies ( IT) are
often used interchangeably, which might cause confusion . Word IT
refers to the technology, while IS also incorporates how it should
be managed and applied to the organization .
1 .3 I CT
Information and C ommunication Technology is often used as
a s yn o n ym f o r I T . I n a v e r y b r o a d s e n s e , t h e t e r m i n f o r m a t i o n
s ys t e m i s a l s o u s e d t o r e f e r t o t h e i n t e r a c t i o n b e t w e e n p e o p l e ,
p r o c e s s e s , d a t a , a n d t e c h n o l o g y. I n t h i s s e n s e , t h e t e r m i s u s e d t o
refer not only to the information and communication technology
(ICT) an organizati on uses, but also to the way how people interact
with this technology (LAUDON, 2009, p. 35).
Clear
distinction
between
information
s ys t e m s ,
computer
s ys t e m s a n d b u s i n e s s p r o c e s s e s c a n b e m a d e b a s e d u p o n t h e i r m a i n
p u r p o s e . I n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m s i n c l u d e a n I C T b u t t h e y a r e n o t
p u r e l y b a s e d o n i t . I n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m s a r e m o r e f o c u s i n g o n t h e
end usage of IT.
Business/organizational
predefined
steps,
which
processes
resemble
are
behaviour
description
of
of
information
s ys t e m s . H o w e v e r f o r d e s i g n i n g a i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m y o u a l r e a d y
need to know processes description and m ain aim of IS is to
manage them effectively.
13
Software
Hardware
Orgware
Database
Peopleware
Management
Figure 2: Information system (KOCH, 2010, p. 5)
1 .4 S o f t w a r e
Software, is defined as set of instructions that directs a
computer's processor to execute specific operations. Naming is in
c o n t r a s t w i t h c o m p u t e r h a r d w a r e , t h e p h ys i c a l o b j e c t s ( p r o c e s s o r
and related devices) that carry out the instructions (BRANDON,
2006, p. 42).
On most computer platforms, software can be grouped into a
few broad categories:
a. System software is the basic software needed for a computer
t o o p e r a t e ( m o s t n o t a b l y t h e o p e r a t i n g s ys t e m ) .
b. Application
software
is
all
the
software
that
uses
the
c o m p u t e r s ys t e m t o p e r f o r m u s e f u l w o r k b e yo n d t h e o p e r a t i o n
of the computer itself.
c. Embedded software resides as firmware within embedded
s ys t e m s , d e v i c e s d e d i c a t e d t o a s i n g l e u s e . I n t h a t c o n t e x t
14
there
is
no
clear
distinction
between
the
s ys t e m
and
application software.
1 .5 H a r d w a r e
C o m p u t e r h a r d w a r e i s c o l l e c t i o n o f p h ys i c a l e l e m e n t s t h a t
c o n s t i t u t e a c o m p u t e r s ys t e m . C o m p u t e r h a r d w a r e r e f e r s t o t h e
p h ys i c a l p a r t s o r c o m p o n e n t s o f a c o m p u t e r s u c h a s m o n i t o r ,
k e yb o a r d ,
Computer
data
storage,
hard
drive
disk,
mouse,
p r i n t e r s , C P U ( g r a p h i c c a r d s , s o u n d c a r d s , m e m o r y, m o t h e r b o a r d
and chips), etc. all of which are physical objects that you can
actuall y touch. In contrast, software is untouchable (BRANDON,
2006, p. 40).
1 .6 O r gw a r e
Orgware is set of recommended rules set up by organization,
w h i c h s h o u l d b e a p p l i e d d u r i n g w o r k w i t h i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m .
(KOCH, 2010, p. 5)
1 .7 P e o p l e w a r e
P e o p l e w a r e c a n r e f e r t o a n yt h i n g t h a t h a s t o d o w i t h t h e r o l e
of people in the development or use of computer software and
hardware
s ys t e m s ,
including
such
issues
as
developer
p r o d u c t i v i t y, t e a m w o r k , g r o u p d yn a m i c s , t h e p s yc h o l o g y o f
programming,
project
management,
organizational
factors,
human interface design, and human -machine-interaction.
The concept of peopleware in the software community covers
a variety of aspects (ACUNA, 2005, p. 9 -11):

Development of productive persons

Organizational culture

Organizational learning

Development of productive teams, and

Modelling of human competencies.
15
1 .8 Ma n a g e me n t
Management in all business and organizational activities is
the act of coordinating the efforts of people to accomplish desired
goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and
e f f e c t i v e l y.
Management
comprises
planning,
organizing,
staffing,
leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group o f
one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of
accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and
manipulation
of
human
resources,
financial
resources,
technological resources, and natural resources. (BRANDON, 2006,
p. 52-56).
1 .9 D a t a b a s e
Database is an organized collection of data and refer s to the
l o g i c a l d a t a b a s e , t o p h ys i c a l d a t a b a s e a s d a t a c o n t e n t i n c o m p u t e r
data storage or to many other database sub -definitions.
The term database is correctly applied to the data and their
supporting data structures, and not to the database management
s ys t e m ( D B M S ) . T h e d a t a b a s e d a t a c o l l e c t i o n w i t h D B M S i s c a l l e d
a d a t a b a s e s ys t e m ( E L M A S R I , 2 0 0 3 , p . 2 2 - 2 4 ) .
T h e t e r m d a t a b a s e s ys t e m i m p l i e s t h a t t h e d a t a i s m a n a g e d t o
s o m e l e v e l o f q u a l i t y ( m e a s u r e d i n t e r m s o f a c c u r a c y, a v a i l a b i l i t y,
u s a b i l i t y, a n d r e s i l i e n c e ) a n d t h i s i n t u r n o f t e n i m p l i e s t h e u s e o f a
g e n e r a l - p u r p o s e d a t a b a s e m a n a g e m e n t s ys t e m ( D B M S ) ( E L M A S R I ,
2003, p.48).
A g e n e r a l - p u r p o s e D B M S i s t yp i c a l l y a c o m p l e x s o f t w a r e
s ys t e m t h a t m e e t s m a n y u s a g e r e q u i r e m e n t s , a n d t h e d a t a b a s e s t h a t
it maintains are often large and complex. The utilization of
databases is now spread to such a wide degree that virtually every
technology and product relies on databases and DBMSs for its
16
development
and
commercialization,
or
even
may
have
such
embedded in it. Also, organizations and companies, from small to
large, heavily depend on databases for their operations.
Well
known
DBMSs,
Oracle,
IBM
DB2,
Microsoft
SQL
S e r v e r , P o s t g r e S Q L , M yS Q L , S Q L i t e
. A database is not generally portable across different DBMS,
but different DBMSs can inter -operate to some degree by using
standards
like
SQL
and
ODBC
to
support
together
a
single
application. A DBMS also needs to provide effective run -time
execution to properl y support (e.g., in terms of performance,
a v a i l a b i l i t y,
and
s e c u r i t y)
as
many
end -users
as
needed
(CHURCHER, 2007, p. 38).
1 .1 0 E n t i t y – r e l a t i o n s h i p mo d e l
Entity–relationship model (ER model) is a data model for
d e s c r i b i n g a d a t a b a s e i n a n a b s t r a c t w a y. I n t h e c a s e o f a r e l a t i o n a l
database, which stores data in tables, some of the data in these
t a b l e s p o i n t t o d a t a i n o t h e r t a b l e s - f o r i n s t a n c e , yo u r e n t r y i n t h e
database could point to several entries for each of the phone
numbers that are yours.
T h e E R m o d e l w o u l d s a y t h a t yo u a r e a n e n t i t y, a n d e a c h
p h o n e n u m b e r i s a n e n t i t y, a n d t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n yo u a n d
the phone numbers is 'has a phone number'. Diagrams created to
design
these
entities
and
relationships
are
called
entity –
relationship diagrams or ER diagrams. (ELMASRI, 2003, p. 52 -53).
17
Figure 3: Example of relationship diagram (ELMASRI, 2003, p. 52).
1.10.1
Conceptual data model
This is the highest level ER model in that it contains the
least granular detail but establishes the overall scope of what is to
be included within the model set. The conceptual ER model
normally defines master reference data entities that are common ly
used
by
the
organization.
Developing
an
enterprise -wide
conceptual ER model is useful to support documenting the data
architecture for an organization (ELMASRI, 2003, p. 56) .
A conceptual ER model may be used as the foundation for one
or more logical data models. The purpose of the conceptual ER
model is then to establish structural metadata commonality for the
master data entities between the set of logical ER models. The
conceptual
data
relationships
model
between
ER
may
be
used
to
as
basis
models
a
form
for
commonality
data
model
integration.
1.10.2
Logical data model
A logical ER model does not require a conceptual ER model,
especially if the scope of the logical ER model is to develop a
s i n g l e d i s p a r a t e i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m . T h e l o g i c a l E R m o d e l c o n t a i n s
more detail than the conceptual ER model. In addition to master
18
data entities, operational and transactional data entities are now
defined. (CHURCHER, 2007, p. 47)
The details of each data entity are developed and the entity
relationships between these data
entities are established. The
logical ER model is however developed independent of technology
into which it will be implemented.
1.10.3
Physical model
O n e o r m o r e p h ys i c a l E R m o d e l s m a y b e d e v e l o p e d f r o m e a c h
l o g i c a l E R m o d e l . T h e p h ys i c a l E R m o d e l i s n o r m a l l y d e v e l o p e d t o
be instantiated as a database.
T h e r e f o r e , e a c h p h ys i c a l E R m o d e l m u s t c o n t a i n e n o u g h
d e t a i l t o p r o d u c e a d a t a b a s e a n d e a c h p h ys i c a l E R m o d e l i s
t e c h n o l o g y d e p e n d e n t s i n c e e a c h d a t a b a s e m a n a g e m e n t s ys t e m i s
somewhat different.
The
p h ys i c a l
model
is
normally
forward
engineered
to
instantiate the structural metadata into a database management
s ys t e m a s r e l a t i o n a l d a t a b a s e o b j e c t s s u c h a s d a t a b a s e t a b l e s ,
database
indexes
such
as
unique
key
indexes,
and
database
constraints such as a foreign key con straint or a commonality
constraint.
The ER model is also normally used to design modifications
to the relational database objects and to maintain the structural
metadata of the database.
T h e f i r s t s t a g e o f i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m d e s i g n u s e s t h e s e
models during the requirements analysis to describe information
n e e d s o r t h e t yp e o f i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t i s t o b e s t o r e d i n a d a t a b a s e .
The data modelling technique can be used to describe any ontology
for a certain area of interest (ELMASRI, 2003, p. 59).
19
I n t h e c a s e o f t h e d e s i g n o f a n i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m t h a t i s
based on a database, the conceptual data model is, at a later stage,
mapped to a logical data model, such as the relational model; this
i n t u r n i s m a p p e d t o a p h ys i c a l m o d e l d u r i n g p h ys i c a l d e s i g n .
1 .1 1 I mp l e me n t a t i o n o f I S
Preliminary
analysis
Solution
proposal
System
settings
Testing
Training of
users
Convert
static data
Filling the
initial states
Launch
Figure 4: Implementation of IS (BRANDON, 2006, p. 84)
1.11.1
P r e l i m i n a r y a n a l ys i s
P u r p o s e o f t h i s a n a l ys i s i s t o m a p a l l c u r r e n t p r o c e s s e s a n d
mutual connections between them. Also includes a description of
the organization operations and new requirements for processes
that have not been resolved or are planned for the future.
1.11.2
Solution proposal
Knowledge
obtained
during
initial
a n a l ys i s
is
used
for
detailed description of work processes in the new IS. This new
solution along the bring changes in organization workflow to
g r e a t e r e f f i c i e n c y.
20
1.11.3
System settings
All planned features and data binding function need to set up
t h e s ys t e m , s u c h a s p a r a m e t e r s , f o u n d a t i o n , s e q u e n t i a l l y n u m b e r e d
documents
and
their
mutual
interrelationship
to
meet
basic
c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s . A f t e r t h a t s ys t e m i s r e a d y f o r f i l l i n g d a t a .
1.11.4
Convert static data
In case an organization has alread y owned software, which was
processing their data, it is necessary to compare the data transfer
t o t h e n e w s ys t e m . D u r i n g t h i s t r a n s i t i o n o f t e n o c c u r c l e a n u p s ,
sorting and unification.
1.11.5
Training of users
User training task is to prep are all workers for the test
operation.
1.11.6
Testing
At this stage simulates real environment and verifies correct
o p e r a t i o n s e t t i n g s o f t h e s ys t e m .
1.11.7
Filling the initial states
This is the last task before the final start. Often the old
s o f t w a r e i s u s e d d u r i n g t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e n e w s ys t e m a n d
c h a n g e t o t h e n e w s ys t e m w i l l t a k e p l a c e f r o m d a y t o d a y. I t i s
n e c e s s a r y t o p e r f o r m t h e i n i t i a l f i l l i n g s t a t e v e r y q u i c k l y. T h i s
transfer is therefore carried forward.
1.11.8
After
Launch
start
is
a
supplier
of
the
s ys t e m
available
as
o p e r a t i o n a l s u p p o r t f o r u s e r s . T h r o u g h c o n s u l t a n t s i s t r yi n g t o
s o l v e p r o b l e m s o p e r a t i v e l y. A f t e r f e w d a ys u s e r s g e t f a m i l i a r w i t h
t h e s ys t e m a n d a r e a b l e t o s w i t c h i n t o s t a n d a r d m o d e s u p p o r t .
21
2 Current situa tion a na lysis
This part will prov ide inside look to the ISC VUT Brno. Brief
overview organization chart with position description followed by
ex plaining communication structure and currently used IT tools.
2 .1 O r g a n i z a t i o n b a c kg r o u n d I S C VU T B r n o
International Students Club of Brno Universit y of Technology
(in
Czech
“ V ys o k é
učení
technické
v
Brně”)
in
Brno
was
established in 2004 and in 2007 joined ESN (Erasmus Student
Network). ISC VUT is voluntary based organization with main aim
to help foreign exchange students during they stay in Czech
Republic..
2.1.1 Organization structure
Figure 5: ISC VUT organization chart (ISC VUT Brno 2013)
22
2 .2 B o a r d
Board is the main decision making bod y of ISC VUT. Board
consist
of
president,
vice-president,
activities
coordinator,
treasurer, public relations, and section delegate.
Decision making process is done by voting and absolute
majorit y is needed. In case of draw, president has a casting vote.
Board (despite president and vice -president) is elected by members
f o r m a n d a t e o f o n e c a l e n d a r ye a r . P r e s i d e n t ’ s m a n d a t e i s o n e ye a r
f r o m J u l y u n t i l J u l y. A f t e r e l e c t i o n s p r e s i d e n t s c h o o s e s v i c e president which needs to be approved by Board.
2 .3 T e a m
Team is the main executive body of ISC VUT. Team consists
of all members which have a responsibility fo r certain field of ISC
V U T w h i c h a r e d i v i d e d i n t o s m a l l e r t e a m s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r t yp e
o f a c t i v i t y. E v e r y s m a l l e r t e a m h a s a b o a r d m e m b e r w h i c h i s t a k i n g
care of it.
2 .4 B o a r d p o s i t i o n s d e s c r i p t i o n
2.4.1 President

General responsibility for whole functioning of the ISC VUT

Main contact person for exchange students, rectorate of BUT,
Halls of Residence of BUT and other institutions
2.4.2 Vice-president

Responsible for task management and operabilit y of ISC VUT

In charge of board and general meetings

Substitutes role of pr esident when is necessary
2.4.3 Activities coordinator

Responsible for activities and events for exchange students

Creating
calendar
of
events
semester
23
in
the
beginning
of
every

Substitutes event leader in case of unexpected circumstances
2.4.4 Treasurer

In charge o f finances and inventory of ISC VUT

Responsible for office hours

Preparing list of participants of the event
2.4.5 Public Relations

Responsible
for
maintaining
positive
image
among
s t a k e h o l d e r s ( e x c h a n g e s t u d e n t s , u n i v e r s i t y, l o c a l s t u d e n t s )

In charge of internal and external communication

Promotion of the events on webpage and social media

Corporate identity of ISC VUT

Weekly newsletter
2.4.6 Section Delegate

Main contact person for ESN CZ and ESN international

Represents opinion of the section on National platforms and
other statutory meetings of ESN

Responsible for maintaining good relationship with other
organizations with similar activities

Implementation of international projects on local level

Coordinating participation in external international projec ts
Position
Leader of
President
Board
Vice-president
Vice-president’s team
Activities coordinator
Activities team
Treasurer
Open hours team
Public Relations
Team of Public Relations
Section Delegate
Section Delegate’s team
Table 1: Teams division (ISC VUT Brno 2013)
24
2 .5 T e a m p o s i t i o n s d e s c r i p t i o n
2.5.1 Activities team
Head of Presentations of Nations
Presentations of Nations - PofN is regular activity which took
place in lecture room every Tuesday during semester. Exchange
students have possibility to present their country and culture to
other students. This may be done via standard presentation with
s l i d e s b u t n o w a d a ys a r e s t u d e n t s m o r e c r e a t i v e a n d t h e r e i s
possibility to see custom video, interactive content, competitions
or even small theatrical performances.

R e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r l e c t u r e r o o m ( k e ys a n d c l e a n u p )

Creates
schedule
of
presentations
in
the
beginning
of
semester

Collects
presentations
in
advance
to
avoid
technical
difficulties on the spot

Helps during rehearsals
Event leaders
Event leaders are selected by Activities coordinator in the
beginning of the semester. In some case selection or changes might
be done even during semester. Event leader is:

Main responsible person during that specific event

Taking care of finances during the event

Prepares budget and send it to the Activities coordinator and
Treasurer

Prepares
necessary
steps
before
the
event
(ordering
of
transportation, accommodations, reservations etc.)

Presentation
meeting,
of
main
the
event
presentation
–
rehearsal
during
Nations
25
on the
ISC
Presentations
of
VUT
the

Before event prepares list of participants with name and
telephone numbers

During
the
event
makes
sure
that
e v e r yt h i n g
is
going
according to the plan however small spontaneous activities
are allowed if they are not interfering with the general
outcome of the event

Request
feedback
from
the
participants
in
spoken
or
written/online form

After the event gives spoken report on the next ISC VUT
meeting
Languages coordinator
Languages coordinator is responsible for Czech for Fun and
Tandem language courses.
Czech for Fun (Czech4Fun, C4F) is a once in a week activity
during which exchange students have possibility to learn Czech
language and Czech culture. Less ons are held in a friendlier
atmosphere that standard language courses.
Tandem
language
courses
are
possibility
to
exchange
k n o w l e d g e o f yo u r m o t h e r l a n g u a g e w i t h a n o t h e r n a t i v e s p e a k e r o f
t h e l a n g u a g e o f yo u r c h o i c e .

Presents possibilities of Czech for Fun and Tandem language
courses on the First info meeting

Creates open call for participants of Czech4Fun

Responsible Czech4Fun lectures

Managing Tandem language course pairings
Sports coordinator

Taking
care
of
communi cation
between
CESA
(Centrum
sportovních aktivit v Brně, Centrum of Sports Activities in
Brno) and exchange students
26

Help exchange students to enrol into the CESA sport courses

Organizing sport events for exchange students
Party coordinator

Helps with national parties after the presentation of the
nations
2.5.2 Open hours team
Treasurer with open hours team is responsible for open hours
which are currently set two times per week – every Tuesday and
Wednesday from 6 pm until 8 pm.

Providing
additional
informat ion
and
help
for
exchange
students

Managing sign up for events of ISC VUT

Keeping ISC VUT office clean and representative
2.5.3 Vice-president team
IT responsible

Maintaining computers in the office running and updated

M a i n t a i n i n g w e b s i t e , w i k i , i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m o f I S C V U T

Communicating with rectorate regarding webhosting issues

Administrating communication channels of ISC VUT

Helps members with IT related issues
Knowledge manager

Administrating ISC VUT wiki

Requesting reports from the events

Collecting feedbacks of events

Transferring knowhow from other sections
Human resources

Recruitment process of new members

Interviews with new members
27

Main contact person for new members

Helps to integrate new members

Teambuilding activities
Buddy coordinator

Administrating pick -up procedures in the information system
if necessary

Administrating pairing of buddy and exchange student if
necessary

Main contact person for buddy students

Works closely with Human resources coordinator
Fundraiser

Main contact person for pa rtners of ISC VUT

Maintaining good relationships with current partners

Contacting new possible partners
2.5.4 Public relations team
Public relations team is responsible for external and internal
communication of ISC VUT Brno.
Foto responsible

Main photographer of ISC VUT

Taking photos during ISC VUT events

Collecting

Editing and publishing pictures in IS C VUT gallery and other
currently used medias or social networks
Video responsible

Main video maker of ISC VUT

Taking videos during ISC VUT events

Editing and publishing videos in ISC VUT video gallery and
other currently used medias or social networks

Creation of video promo material
28
Social media coordinator

Facebook administrator of ISC VUT page and groups

Promotion of ISC VUT events

Viral promo activity

One to one communication with exchange students
Designer

Creation of promo posters for ISC VUT events

Creation of graphical materials
2.5.5 Section delegate team
Vice-section delegate

Substitutes role of Section Delegate when is necessary

Promotion of national and international level of ESN among
other members
SocialErasmus

implementation of SocialErasmus project on local level

Main
contact
person
for
national
and
international
SocialErasmus coordinator
SocialErasmus is international project of Erasmus Student
Network with main aim of integrating exchange students into new
community through socially oriented projects and activities.
2.5.6 Members
General members of ISC VUT are taking support role in the
predefined processes. Members are usually recruited from buddies
b u t i t i s n o t c o m p u l s o r y t o b e a b u d d y i f yo u w a n t t o a p p l y f o r
membership but they are encouraged to participate in ISC VUT
b u d d y s ys t e m .
29
2.5.7 Buddies
Buddy is a local student which volunteers to help e xchange
students to integrate into local environment. Further explanation of
b u d d y s ys t e m i s i n c h a p t e r “ B u d d y s ys t e m ” .
Team
Board
Team members
President
Vice-president
Activities coordinator
Treasurer
Public Relations
Section Delegate
Vice-president’s team
Vice-president
IT responsible
Knowledge manager
Human resources
Buddy coordinator
Fundraiser
Activities team
Activities coordinator
Head of Presentations of Nations
Event leaders
Languages coordinator
Sports coordinator
Party coordinator
Open hours team
Treasurer
Office hour helpers
Team of Public Relations
Foto responsible
Video responsible
Social media coordinator
Designer
Section Delegate’s team
Vice-section delegate
SocialErasmus
Table 2: Team members division (ISC VUT Brno 2013)
30
2 .6 I n t e r n a l Co mmu n i c a t i o n s t r u c t u r e
Internal communication of ISC VUT is between members and
buddies and main aim is to keep information flow about events,
activities, open calls or any other important informa tion and it also
should create positive social atmosphere which helps to provide
sufficient working environment.
Internal communication of ISC VUT is divided into:
Active




Passive


emails
electronic mailing list
social media
meetings

newsletter
project management
application
wiki (reports, minutes,
guidelines cookbooks)
Table 3: Internal communication of ISC VUT (ISC VUT Brno 2013)
2 .7 A c t i v e i n t e r n a l c o mmu n i c a t i o n
Emails
Email server is provided by university however as email
client is mostly used Gmail.
For external communication within ISC VUT is strongl y
recommended to use emails with domain @isc.vutbr.cz as it is
p r o v i d e i m m e d i a t e r e c o g n i t i o n s a n d l e g i t i m a c y.
For internal communication inside ISC VUT are members
allowed to use their personal email accounts. Gmail was so far
proven as best practice.
List of email add resses which are currently can be found in
the table 4. There was created email forwarding from the address
prezident@isc.vutbr.cz
confusion
between
to
English
president@isc.vutbr.cz
Due
word
Czech
“president”
and
to
the
word
“prezident”. As primary domai n email is set info @isc.vutbr.cz.
31
Email
Email address
General information
info@isc.vutbr.cz
President
president@isc.vutbr.cz
Vice-president
vice@isc.vutbr.cz
Activities Coordinator
activities@isc.vutbr.cz
Treasurer
treasurer@isc.vutbr.cz
Public Relations
pr@isc.vutbr.cz
Section Delegate
sd@isc.vutbr.cz
Human Resources
hr@isc.vutbr.cz
Buddy Coordinator
buddy@isc.vutbr.cz
Presentations of the Nations
presentations@isc.vutbr.cz
Fundraising
fr@isc.vutbr.cz
IT
it@isc.vutbr.cz
Knowledge manager
km@isc.vutbr.cz
Languages
languages@isc.vutbr.cz
Sports
sport@isc.vutbr.cz
Table 4: List of email contacts of ISC VUT (ISC VUT Brno 2013)
Electronic mailing lists
General

General-isc-vut-brno@googlegroups.com

A n n o u n c e m e n t l i s t t yp e

Used for newsletters and open calls for team positions

Frequency around one email per week

Information which are not urgent are cumulated in weekly
newsletter

Reply function is disabled

Send message is onl y allowed for president, PR and IT
Buddy

Buddy-isc-vut-brno@googlegroups.com

D i s c u s s i o n l i s t t yp e
32

Used by buddy to discuss buddy related topics among each
other
Team

Team-isc-vut-brno@googlegroups.com

D i s c u s s i o n l i s t t yp e

Discussions, brainst orming, task management

Elections

Tips and recommendation
Board

Board-isc-vut-brno@googlegroups.com

D i s c u s s i o n l i s t t yp e

Broader
discussions
before
transferring
topic
into
Team
mailing list to keep amount of messages at reasonable levels

Operative decision making
Figure 6: Electronic mailing list structure of ISC VUT (ISC VUT Brno 2013)
33
2.7.1.1
Social media
ISC VUT currently uses onl y Facebook and for internal
communication
between
members
and
buddies
was
created
Facebook group (facebook.com/groups/isc.vut.group). Members are
added automatically buddies are added upon request. Main aim of
this group is to create positive social atmosphere.
Originally was intended to share only informal information
however Facebook become popular on the level where there are
quicker responses for Facebook posts than emails so occasionally
urgent messages are send via Facebook posts. This phenomenon
applies especially for volunteer student b ased organization where
usually not so strict communication guidelines applied are . Also
activity of an individual person on Facebook group is higher than
on Google groups mailing list which I personally thinks is because
of possibility to delete post/comment which is not possible through
email communication.
T yp e s o f m e s s a g e s w h i c h o c c u r s :

Questions – regarding ISC VUT, student life etc.

Photos

Videos

Viral internet content

Tips and recommendations

Reminders

Notifications for important emails
34
Figure 7: Facebook communication of ISC VUT (ISC VUT Brno 2013)
2.7.1.2
Meetings
Meetings of ISC VUT are very important part of internal
communication as they provide environment for the fastest and
most reliable face-to-face communication. Personal meetings also
help with group building and forming team spirit of all members.
I t w a s d e c i d e d t o h a v e b o t h m e e t i n g s a t s a m e d a y, c u r r e n t l y
Monday was chosen. Board meetings are from 18:00 – 19:30 and
general meetings are from 20:00 – 21:00.
Topics are prepared in advance online via shared Google
spreadsheet, which is send to board mailing list and as well
distributed permanently on Trello card .
T h e r e a r e t w o t yp e s o f m e e t i n g s b e t w e e n m e m b e r s o f I S C
VUT:
35
Board meeting

General meeting

attendance of board
members is mandatory

attendance of board
members is mandatory
attendance of team members

is voluntary
attendance of members is
mandatory,

Discussions

Brainstorming

Minor operative decision

Reports from events
making

Presentation of future


attendance for buddies is
voluntary
events
Strategy planning

Major decision making

Elections
Table 5: ISC VUT meetings comparison (own work).
2 .8 P a s s i v e i n t e r n a l c o mmu n i c a t i o n
Passive internal communication in IS C VUT has main purpose
of reminding members and buddies about current and upcoming
events or other relevant important information and preserving
knowledge of ISC VUT.
2.8.1.1
Newsletter
Newsletter in ISC VUT is special kind of email which is sent
once in a week to the general Google gr oup to notify members and
buddies about upcoming events of the week. Newsletter contains
information as:

Upcoming events of ISC VUT

Open calls for vacant positions in ISC VUT

Recommendations for trainings, workshops or other personal
development related ev ents

Information
about
interesting
possibilities
36
projects,
travelling
2.8.1.2
Project management application
Trello is used as project management tool of ISC VUT. Main
purpose is to provide on demand information for members about
current project and tasks. Workfl ow of usage of this application
was adapted to the needs of ISC VUT and for maximal level of
simplicity and user friendliness there is just one board created
(TIISC - Tasks Ideas of ISC) where are four lists (Ideas, Tasks –
To Do, Tasks – Doing, Tasks – Done).
Figure 8: Trello working environment of ISC VUT (Trello 2013)
2.8.1.3
Wiki
D o k u W i k i w a s c h o s e n a s a w i k i s ys t e m o f I S C V U T . M a i n
decision criteria were level of simplicity and user friendliness.
Goal is preservation of ISC VUT knowledge.
There are stored following documents:

Reports from the events

Check list of the events

Cookbooks for the events

Minutes from the meetings

Guidelines of ISC VUT

Cookbooks of ISC VUT processes
37
2 .9 B u d d y s y s t e m
2.9.1 Buddy systems at ESN in general
B u d d y s ys t e m i s o n e o f t h e m a i n a c t i v i t i e s o f a n E S N s e c t i o n .
Main purpose is to help incoming exchange students to easier
i n t e g r a t e i n t o t h e n e w e n v i r o n m e n t ( u n i v e r s i t y, c o u n t r y) .
N a m i n g o f t h e b u d d y s ys t e m s d i f f e r a m o n g E S N s e c t i o n s .
T h e r e a r e v a r i a t i o n s l i k e m e n t o r s ys t e m o r t u t o r s ys t e m . A t u t o r i s
a n i n s t r u c t o r w h o g i v e s p r i v a t e l e s s o n s s o t h i s n a m i n g s ys t e m w a s
r e j e c t e d i m m e d i a t e l y. “
Buddy system

Mentor system
„operate together“

„transfer of knowledge“
Individuals / groups

Greater knowledge of the

„help each other“

Social coexistence

Less experienced the protégé

Equality between subjects

training context
mentor
Table 6: Comparison of buddy and mentor system (own work)
I t w a s c h o s e n t o u s e b u d d y s ys t e m n a m i n g a s i t f i t s m o r e t o
t h e e n v i r o n m e n t o f I S C V U T b e c a u s e w o r d “ b u d d y” i n g e n e r a l
creates friendlier atmosphere than word “mentor” as it indicates
that both sides are equal.
2.9.2 Buddy system of ISC VUT
B u d d y s ys t e m i s o n e o f t h e c o r e a c t i v i t i e s o f I S C V U T . T h e s e
are mandatory activities of a buddy in the time frame of arrival of
an exchange student :
Period
Before arrival
Activity

establishing contact with exchange student

providing additional information regarding
school or live in Brno
Upon arrival

providing a pickup service

guiding exchange student from the place of
38
arrival in Brno to his/her accommodation

After arrival
helping with necessary administration
(internet access, VISA, accommodation
office),

Czech language translation

providing information upon request
Table 7: Mandatory activities of a buddy (own work)
After fulfilling these activities is buddy student encourage to
engage any additional activities with exchange student like sharing
local cultural events, travelling or any other activities of course on
purely volunteer bases which mostly correlate with mutual
u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n d s ym p a t h y o f b o t h s t u d e n t s .
2 .1 0 E v e n t s
2.10.1
Events at ESN in general
Events are one of the core activities of an ESN section. They
provide possibility to see local places guided by local students and
well
creating
an
environment
for
social
engagement
between
exchange students.
2.10.2
Events of ISC VUT
Events in ISC VUT are divided into four categories:
Category
Description

requires low preparation and
Example
Snow battle
human resources

Micro event
can be spontaneous without lager
promotion and prior registration

usually some happening type of
event

overall risk factor is zero or very
low

Mini event
requires a responsible person
which makes necessary
preparations, reservations but
39
Opera
there is no need for additional
help,
Medium event

overall risk factor is low

multiple steps in preparation
Brno city
process
rally

during the event additional human
resources necessary

overall risk factor is medium

experienced event leader

major preparation phase

Big event
International
student ball
Organized team with predefined
tasks and duties

overall risk factor is high
Table 8: Categories of ISC VUT events (own work)
Overall risk factor indicates the amount of possible negative
PR image impact towards exchange students as well possible
financial losses.
2.10.3
Event registration process
Event registration is currently done on pen and paper bases.
Whole process is done on personal level. Exchange students come
to the ISC VUT office during office hours and register for an
event. Registration is done by sign up with their name, surname,
email address, telephone number to the event spreadsheet.
PROs
CONs




Low entry cost and
requirements
Direct contact with
exchange student




No data backup
Low readability (depends on
handwriting)
Low user friendly level
No place reservation
possibility
No information about full
capacity
No automatic reminders
Table 9: Evaluation of event registration process (based on feedback from Open hours team)
40
2 .1 1 H u ma n r e s o u r c e s ma n a g e me n t
2.11.1
Human resources management in ESN at general
Members
and
buddies
are
the
key
factor
of
any
ESN
organization. Membership management is usually done by Human
Resources Manager, Buddy Coordinators or Vice -president. Process
of recruitment may differ among sections but key steps are the
s a m e . T h e r e a r e t w o t yp e s o f h u m a n r e s o u r c e s m a n a g e m e n t a t E S N :
a. Membership management
b. Buddy management
Some sections also consider buddies as members of the
section. For the purpose of this bachelor thesis only the main
executive group of people which are in charge of functionalit y of
the section will be considered as members.
2.11.2
Human resources management of ISC VUT Brno
Human resources management in ISC VUT Brno is done b y
H u m a n R e s o u r c e s M a n a g e r . T h e r e a r e t w o t yp e s o f r e c r u i t m e n t :
a. Bulk recruitment – higher amount of applicants, ac tive
promotion campaign through emails via Faculty mobility
coordinators
b. Continual recruitment – individuals, passive promo campaign
through posters, website
Target group are usually students which are coming back
from mobility studies or are interested in it.
2.11.3
Membership management of ISC VUT Brno
Recruitment of new members is done continually through
semester. Process is done with support of Google forms and email.
Process of recruitment:
41
Applicant: writes email to hr@isc.vutbr.cz -> HR: replies
w i t h l i n k t o t h e G o o g l e f o r m - > i n t e r v i e w - > c o p yi n g i n f o r m a t i o n
to the another spreadsheet named “ List of members”
2 .1 2 E v a l u a t i o n
Evaluation
conclusion
of
tools
currently
is
used
necessary
tools
to
and
implement
processes
into
the
which
new
i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m a n d w h i c h m i g h t b e o u t s o u r c e d t o a l r e a d y
existing services.
Process
Currently used
Level of
platform
satisfaction
Communication
Gmail, Facebook
Very satisfied
Membership
Google Form,
management
Spreadsheet
Buddy system
N/A
Very not satisfied
Pen and paper
Very not satisfied
DokuWiki
Very satisfied
Trello
Satisfied
Event registration
system
Knowledge
management
Task management
File storage
Dropbox, Google Drive,
DokuWiki
Not satisfied
Very satisfied
Table 10: Evaluation of currently used tools (based on Board meeting feedback)
From the previous table is eminent that new IS have to cover
processes of membership management, buddy system and event
r e g i s t r a t i o n s ys t e m .
42
3 Proposa l
In this part I will describe proposal for the information
s ys t e m b y d e f i n i n g r e l a t i o n v a r i a b l e s a n d p r o c e s s e s w h i c h s h o u l d
b e i m p l e m e n t e d i n t h e i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m f o r E S N s e c t i o n .
Based on the data from Section questionnaire 2012 done by
ESN (ESN AISBL 2013) we can see that more than half of the
people which are responsible for IT in the sections do not have
necessary skills for their own development or installation of
standalone version of IS. Therefore I would recommend making the
i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m a s w e b b a s e d s e r v i c e . T h i s a p p r o a c h w o u l d b e
very user friendly and easy to implement for a new section.
IT responsible - level of experience in section
über (owns/works at IT company)
advanced (customizing existing platforms)
none
9%
expert (development of own software)
basic (using basic tools without customization)
5%
11%
28%
47%
Figure 9: Level of experience of IT responsible in ESN sections (ESN AISBL 2013)
43
3 .1 D a t a b a s e
Exchange
student
Buddy
Pairing
Event
registration
N:N
User
Event
Figure 10: Relations diagram
3.1.1 Relation variables
a. User
b. Exchange student
c. Event
Member and buddy are combined into the relation variable “user”
to avoid duplicity in the database.
3.1.2 User attributes
Personal information
Attribute
Description
Name
Surname
Gender
indicates amount of experience, helps HR to predict
Date of birth
membership cycle (newbie -> alumni), also helps to
plan joint birthday parties which empowers team
dynamics
Email address
main virtual communication contact, needed for user
account management in IS
Telephone
used for urgent communication, also if case of
number
difficulties with email communication
Visual knowledge of members generate better social
Picture
environment inside section, personal picture helps
new members to learn quicker names of current
44
members and vice versa, Facebook has been proven
ineffective because of data inconsistency (people
are using nick names or random charac ters instead
of their names, profile pictures are random images
or group pictures)
Table 11: User attributes - personal information
Study information
Attribute
HEI (university)
Faculty
First year at HEI
Last year at HEI
Description
Higher Education Institution/university, required
when section is managing operating over multiple
universities
faculty which is person studding, filed of studies
give a basic perspective of experience member can
already have, also can be use as criteria for buddy
pairing
helps HR to predict membership cycle (newbie ->
alumni)
expected last year at HEI/university
Table 12: User attributes - study information
Section information
Attribute
Position at section
Description
describe which field of activities is member
currently engaged
text field in which member express his/her
Personal note
personality, recommended is to write relevant
information like
text field which will be visible only to
HR note
HR/advance users, possible to add comments, e.g.
after interview, if a person is expelled
Applicant note
text field with motivational letter sent during
applicant registration
amount of exchange students which is allowed to
Buddy limit
have assigned to buddy for achieving equal
redistribution of exchange students among buddies
Buddy preferences
countries which buddy prefers, usually is
countries where buddy wants to go or already been
45
for mobility studies
Table 13: User attributes - section information
System information
Attribute
Description
Login name
unique user name for purpose of log into the system
Password
for validation of the user
Account status
active/inactive, might be changed manually by super
user
time until will be account active, for buddy is
Account validity
usually one semester or one year and after they can
ask for prolonging
Account type
buddy, member, buddy + member, admin, super
admin
Table 14: User attributes - system information
3.1.3 Exchange student attributes
Personal information
Attribute
Description
Name
Surname
Gender
Birth date
Mobile phone number
home
Mobile phone number
local
Picture
some event and trips require insurance which
differs if a person is over 26 years old
home including country code, very useful for
pick up upon arrival or during the trips or
events
after arrival students usually obtain local SIM
card, to avoid roaming charges
personal photography helps buddy to indentify
person upon arrival, during events and trips is
helpful for identification of a missing person
Table 15: Exchange student attributes - personal information
Study information
Attribute
Country of
sending
institution
Description
during buddy paring process buddies have
preferences for exchange students from countries
on which they want to go for mobility studies so
46
Sending
institution (HEI,
University
Semester
Hosting faculty
they can already obtain some knowledge about the
country, or countries they have already been so
they have things in common
gives possibility to pair buddy with exchange
student of the school which buddy would like to go
for mobility studies
winter/summer/year, helps to keep statistics about
number of students for current s emester
used as pairing criteria in case is needed, local
student of the same faculty as exchange student
might provide more valuable information regarding
studies etc.
Table 16: Exchange student attributes - study information
Pick up information
Attribute
Description
Arrival date and time
Place of arrival
Accommodation
Do you want pick up
service?
Pick up note
helps to arrange pick up service, some
buddies are not living in the city of their
studies so they might need to arrange earlier
coming
place of arrival to the city (bus station/train
station/airport
dormitory, other/flat, place of
accommodation, helps to plan travelling for
pick up
Pick up service is voluntary, exchange
students are adult people and here is marked
if they are interested in it or not
here can exchange student write additional
notes regarding his/her arrival, e.g. arrival
date might change, I am arriving with group
of other people
Table 17: Exchange student attributes - pick up information
Buddy system information
Attribute
Do you want
buddy?
Description
Buddy system is voluntary and if exchange student do
not want a buddy it should not be assigned to him/her
automatically because it might create decrease
motivation of buddy, both sides should express active
agreement that they want to participate in the buddy
system (buddy by applying, exchange student by
choosing YES at “Do you want buddy?” question during
registration)
47
Buddy note
here exchange student write some basic introduction
about him/herself, hobbies, interest, this information
helps during pairing process to pair people which have
things in common to empower future cooperation
between buddy and exchange student
Table 18: Exchange student attributes - buddy system information
Other information
Attribute
Do you know ESN?
ESN card number
Description
Answers YES/NO/I am member, first two answers
are statistical and helps to predict if an additional
presentation about ESN is necessary in the
beginning of the semester, third answer gives
section possibility to include foreign ESNers into
their activities
ESN card is distributed by ESN section to provide
exchange students recognition, free entrance or
discounts for the partners of the section
Table 19: Exchange student attributes - other information
3.1.4 Event attributes:
Attribute
Title
Event leader
Capacity
Price
Event date
Reservation deadline
Registration start
Registration deadline
Reminder note
Description
possible to select from the database of members
maximum amount of registered exchange
students
date and time on which event starts
time until is possible to make reservation for
spot at the event, after that time are all
reservations cancelled and spots are available
again for everybody
time from which is possible to register
exchange students, usually sets around two
weeks before the event date
time until is possible to register for the event,
usually is set around 3 days before the event
date
possibility to enter variable text, which will be
send in the reminder email 24h before the event
Table 20: Event attributes
48
3 .2 Mo d u l e s
M o d u l e s w i l l d e s c r i b e i n d e p e n d e n t p a r t s o f t h e s ys t e m w h i c h
may be shown or hidden depending on the user rights. There will
be four modules:
a)
b)
c)
d)
S ys t e m m o d u l e
User module
Buddy module
Event module
3.2.1 System module





Homepage
landing page after the user log in,
contains basic description of functionalities, links for other
platforms which is section using
Edit homepage
available only for admin
Account settings
possibility to edit user data,
a l l o w / d i s a b l e f e a t u r e s o f t h e s ys t e m
About
h i s t o r y o f t h e s ys t e m , t r a c k i n g o f
improvements
Logout
3.2.2 User module






Member list
database of members
Buddy list
database of buddies
Applicant member list
list of pending application for
membership waiting for approval
Applicant buddy list
list of pending application for
budd y, waiting for approval
Statistics
basic statistics for the section,
amount of members, buddies,
Export data
possibility to export data to
s p r e a d s h e e t w h i c h g i v e s p o s s i b i l i t y f o r d e e p e r a n a l ys i s
3.2.3 Buddy module

Buddy pairing
list of available exchange
students which do not have assigned b uddy student, here can
buddy browse through and read buddy notes, amount of
visible information will be limited to prevent any misuse of
contact details or selection base on visual preferences
49





My buddy list
list of exchanged students which
are assigned to buddy with contact detail and picture
Exchange students list
list of all exchange students with
contact details
Statistics
basic statistics for the section
about amount of exchange students
Manual pairing
available only for HR, buddy
coordinator, possibility to manually pair buddy with
exchange student
Export data
possibility to export data for
m o r e a d v a n c e d a n a l ys i s
3.2.4 Event module




Event list
list of all events of the section
Add event
possibility to create new event
Print participation list
list of participants with
alphabetical order of participants with telephone numbers
Export data
possibility to export data for
a n a l ys i s
3 .3 F o r ms
Five forms for data entry will be needed:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Member applicant form
Buddy applicant form
Exchange student registration form
Event form
Event reservation form
3.3.1 Member applicant form
Name
Name
Surname
Email address
Telephone number
Type
text
text
text
text
HEI (university)
list box
Faculty
list box
First year at HEI
list box
Last expected year
at HEI
list box
Features
have to contain "@" and "."
list of universities on which is section
operating
list of faculties of university selected in
HEI (university)
scale from -10 years from current year
until current year and option "Other"
scale from current year to +10 years and
option "Other"
50
Applicant note
text field
motivation letter, limitation of 1000
characters
Table 21: Member applicant form
3.3.2 Buddy applicant form
Name
Name
Surname
Email address
Telephone number
HEI (university)
Faculty
First year at HEI
Last expected
at HEI
year
Applicant note
Buddy preferences
Type
text
text
text
text
list
box
list
box
Features
list
box
scale from -10 years from current year
until current year and option "Other"
list
box
text
field
scale from current year to +10 years and
option "Other"
list
box
have to contain "@" and "."
list of universities on which is section
operating
list of faculties of university selected in
HEI (university)
limitation of 500 characters
countries which buddy prefers, usually is
countries where buddy wants to go or
already been for mobility studies
Table 22: Buddy applicant form
3.3.3 Exchange student registration form
Name
Name
Surname
Gender
Type
text
text
list box
Birth date
calendar
Address
Contact email
Mobile phone number home
text
text
text
Photo
file
Country
of
sending
institution
Sending
institution
(HEI,
University)
Semester
Hosting
institution
(HEI,
University)
Host faculty
Features
male, female
cannot
select
current date
date
before
have to contain "@" and "."
list box
limited file size, file type
*.jpg, *.png
countries of the world and
option "other"
text
list box
list box
list box
51
winter, summer, whole year
list
of
HEIs,
Universities
where section is operating
list of faculties based on
selection of hosting institution
Arrival date and time
calendar
Place of arrival
list box
Accommodation
Do
you
want
service?
pick
up
Pick up note
Do you want buddy?
Buddy note
list box
list of arrival places in city
(e.g. bus station, airport)
dormitories and option "Other"
list box
yes or no
text
field
list box
text
field
yes or no
Table 23: Exchange student registration form
3.3.4 Event form
Name
Title
Event leader
Type
text
text
Capacity
Price
Event date
Reservations deadline
Registration start
Registration deadline
Reminder note
Features
possibility to find in the database of members
If capacity=amount of registered participants than stop
number allowing reservation/registrations
number
calendar
calendar
calendar
calendar
text
Table 24: Event form
3.3.5 Event reservation form
Name
Type
Features
Unique tudent
identification
text
student number, ESN card number
list box
list of events between dates "Registration
start" and "Registration deadline", if
capacity
is
reached,
stop
enabling
possibility to reserve
Event
Table 24: Event registration form
3 .4 D e s c r i p t i o n o f p r o c e s s e s
3.4.1 Member recruitment
Member
applicant
–
person,
membership in the section.
52
which
is
a p p l yi n g
for
HR – coordinating person from the section , this is in charge
of human resources process. This mainly includes recruiting and
teambuilding.
1. Applicant fills in the membership application form
2. HR gets notification email that new applicant form has been
submitted
3. HR reviews applicants entry and decides wheatear to have
interview with applicant or not
4. After the successful interview member applicant is confirmed
as a member and HR transforms his/her applicant form into
member user account
5. Applicant gets notification that his/her new user account has
been created
6. HR sends welcome email to member applicant (new member)
Process might be terminated in step 3 in case of sufficient
member base or 4 in case of unsuccessful interview.
Member applicant form is placed on section’s website under
Membership -> Membership application form.
Notification
email
is
triggered
after
submission
of
membership application form.
New user account notification is generated by the system
and contains login name, password and link to the information
s ys t e m . I t a l s o n o t i f i e s u s e r t h a t p a s s w o r d s h o u l d b e c h a n g e d a f t e r
the first login.
Welcome email is sent by HR section representative and
contains welcoming paragraph followed by small guide for new
member,
with
information
about
upcoming
links/materials with information about section.
53
meeting
and
Submision of
applicant form
Notification to
HR
HR procedures
New member
Notification to
applicant
Approval
Figure 11: Member recruitment
3.4.2 Buddy registration
B u d d y a p p l i c a n t – p e r s o n , w h i c h i s a p p l yi n g f o r b u d d y
s ys t e m o f t h e s e c t i o n
Process buddy registration is similar to member recruitment
and depends on section HR policy (requirement of an interview,
motivational letter or they are accepting all applicants).
3.4.3 Exchange student registration
Exchange student – student coming for mobility studies into
the university (HEI)
1. Exchange student receives information email from mobility
coordinator about the section and registration.
2. Exchange students receive information email from president
of the section about the section and registration.
3. Exchange student fills in exchange student registration form .
4. Exchange student receive s confirmation that registration was
successful with summary of data that he has provided and
link for exchange student edit form.
Information email from mobility coordinator is send by
mobility coordinators which are taking care about study matters of
54
the mobility studies. After the successful registration for mobility
studies on hosting university (HE I) is send email with basic info
about section and link for registration. Best practice is that first
information about the section is coming from mobility coordinators
to prove credibility of the section towards university (HEI).
Information email from president of the section after the
section receives contact details of all exchange students. Email
contains basic information about beginning of the semester, link
for further information and reminder about the registration.
Exchange student registration form is available on the
section
website
at
Info
for
incoming
->
Exchange
student
registration form.
3.4.4 Pairing process buddy with exchange student
1 . B u d d y l o g s i n t o t h e i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m a n d c h o o s e b u d d y
pairing.
2. Buddy chooses an exchange student.
3. Exchange student’s contact details appear in his/hers “Buddy
l i s t p a g e ” a n d c o n f i r m a t i o n e m a i l i s s e n d t o b u d d y.
4. Buddy sends first email to exchange student.
5. Reminder email is send to buddy 24h before arrival of
exchange student if pick up was requested.
During buddy pairing is amount of exchange st udent’s data
l i m i t e d t o a v o i d a n y m i s u s e o f t h e i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m s u c h a s
dating service or other behaviour which is against ESN values .
Recommended amount of visible data (based on best practice
of ISC VUT Brno):






Country of sending institution
S e n d i n g i n s t i t u t i o n ( H E I , U n i v e r s i t y)
Host faculty
Arrival date and time
Place of arrival
Dormitory
55




D o yo u w a n t p i c k u p s e r v i c e ?
Pick up note
D o yo u w a n t b u d d y ?
Buddy note
3.4.5 Event creation
Event
–
trip,
excursion
etc.
organized
by
section
Activities coordinator – person responsible for activities
and events of the section
1 . A c t i v i t i e s c o o r d i n a t o r l o g i n t o t h e i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m a n d
selects “Add event”
2 . A c t i v i t i e s c o o r d i n a t o r c r e a t e s e v e n t b y s p e c i f yi n g a l l
necessary event attributes in appropriate form
3. Activity coordinator notifies particular event leader that
h i s / h e r e v e n t w a s c r e a t e d i n t h e s ys t e m
3.4.6 Event reservation
1. Exchange student fill in event reservation form By
s p e c i f yi n g i d e n t i f i c a t i o n i n f o r m a t i o n a n d e v e n t t h a t h e
wishes to attend
2. Exchange student selects event on which he/she wants to
reserve spot.
3. Exchange student receive confirmation email that he/she
reserved spot for selected event.
4. Exchange student now continues with event registration
process.
Event reservation form is on the section website for u ser
friendly access. Event is listed in event reservation form from the
time of “Registration start” until “Registration deadline”.
Maximum amount of reserved spots is defined by capacity of
the event. Reservation deadline” is the time from which are spot s
n o l o n g e r r e s e r v e d a n d t h e y a r e a g a i n a v a i l a b l e f o r e v e r yb o d y o n
the first come first serve basis.
Best practise shows that “registration start” is good to set at
least two weeks before event date and “reservation deadline” one
56
week before event. Such dates mainly depend on nature of each
e v e n t a n d i t s r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r o r g a n i z a t i o n c o m p l e x i t y.
3.4.7 Event registration
1. Exchange student comes to the office during the office hours.
2. Exchange student writes personal information on event
registration paper.
3. Exchange student is marked as event participant in the event
r e g i s t r a t i o n s ys t e m m o d u l e .
4. Exchange student receives information email that confirms
h i s p a ym e n t f o r t h e e v e n t
5. Exchange student receive s reminder 24h before event.
3 .5 U s e r g r o u p s
User group define access to the modules of the information
s ys t e m a n d a l s o a m o u n t o f v i s i b l e d a t a a s w e l l p o s s i b i l i t y t o e d i t
or export data.
Buddy user
System
module
User module
Buddy
module
Member user
Advance member
Admin
System module
Homepage
Edit homepage
Account settings
About
Logout
Account settings
Logout
Homepage
Account settings
Logout
Homepage
Account settings
About
Logout
Member list (basic
view)
Buddy list (basic
view)
Member list
Buddy list
Member list
Buddy list
Member applicant
Buddy applicant
Member list
Buddy list
Member applicant
Buddy applicant
Exchange
students list
(basic view)
Buddy pairing
My buddy list
Exchange students
list
Manual pairing
Buddy pairing
My buddy list
Exchange students
list
Manual pairing
Export data
Event list
Event module
Event list
Add event
Print participation
list
Event list
Add event
Print participation
list
Export data
Buddy pairing
My buddy list
Event module
Table 25: User groups modules visibility
57
Co nclusion
The goal of this bachelor thesis was to design information
s ys t e m f o r E S N s e c t i o n p r o c e s s m a n a g e m e n t , w h i c h w i l l m a k e
section more effective.
F o r a n a l ys i s o f c u r r e n t s i t u a t i o n , I u s e d m y h o m e s e c t i o n I S C
VUT Brno as model section for describing processes. Based on this
a n a l ys i s , I w a s a b l e t o f o r m p r o p o s a l o f t h e i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m .
T h a n t h i s s ys t e m w a s i m p l e m e n t e d i n t h e I S C V U T B r n o a n d t e s t e d
f o r o n e ye a r w i t h n o m a j o r c o m p l i c a t i o n s .
H i g h e s t a d d e d v a l u e w a s n o t i c e d f r o m b u d d y s ys t e m p a i r i n g
method, which enables very individual pairing and increase mutual
motivation for cooperation of buddy and exchange student . Online
r e g i s t r a t i o n s ys t e m s a v e s t i m e a n d i n c r e a s e t r a n s p a r e n c y i n c a s e o f
overbooked
events.
Member
database
provides
internal
social
p l a t f o r m , w h i c h e n a b l e s f a s t e r i n t e g r a t i o n o f n e w m e m b e r s . S ys t e m
proved itself to be stable and ready to be implemented to other
sections.
During the ESN international events, such as Annual General
Meeting,
Council
of
National
Delegates,
Council
of
National
Representatives I was confronting my ideas and feedback from
testing with the best practises from other sections and I came to
conclusion that there is no standard described how the core
processes of ESN section should look like.
I n o r d e r t o b e a b l e t o s h a r e s u c h i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m w i t h
other sections, we have created “Project SectionBox” (SectionBox
2013). Project is based on combining description of processes from
s e c t i o n s a n d i m p l e m e n t i n g t h e m i n t o t h e s ys t e m .
This should set up a basic quality standard for Erasmus care
provided by ESN section. Also helps to continuously upgrade
s ys t e m b y i m p l e m e n t i n g n e w f e a t u r e s , w h i c h m i g h t c o m e w i t h
58
every new section. All the time and human resource savings can be
invested into providing better services to exchange students and
further section development.
European Commission for education, training,
yo u t h a n d
sport made a proposal by for the new programme “Erasmus for all”
for the period of 2014 -2020 with significant increase of funds
allocated for the development of knowledge and skills (European
Commission 2013, p. 12).
In the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education 2014 -2020 is
stated: “It is strongly recommended that the receiving institution
establishes a student network, such as an ESN (Erasm us Student
Network) section which could run the buddy system and share good
practice
with
other
sections
around
Europe.“
(European
Commission 2013).
These are the main indicators that Erasmus Student Network
will continue its functionality and even take care about increased
n u m b e r s o f e x c h a n g e s t u d e n t s . T h e r e f o r e t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m
might be very helpful providing more professionalization
effectiveness to all sections.
.
59
and
References
ACUNA, Silvia T. (2005). A Software Process Model Handbook for
Incorporating People's Capabilities . pp.9-11.
BRANDON, Dan. Project management for modern information
s y s t e m s . H e r s h e y, P A : I R M P r e s s , c 2 0 0 6 , x i i , 4 1 7 p . I S B N 1 5 - 9 1 4 0695-1.
ESN AISBL. 2013. ESN International. [accessed 16 -5-2013]
Availible at: http://esn.org/
ESN AISBL. 2013. Section Questionaire 2012. Brussels: ESN AISBL.
ESN CZ. 2013. [online] ESN Czech Republic. [accessed 16-5-2013] Availible at:
http://esn-cz.cz/esn/
European Commission. 2013. . [online] Education & training: Erasmus for all.
[accessed 16-5-2013 ] Availible at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/erasmus-for-all/
European Commission. 2013. . [online] Erasmus Charter for Higher Education 20142020 . [accessed 16-5-2013] Availible at:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/funding/2014/documents/annotated_guidelines_en.pdf
CHURCHER, Clare. 2007. Beginning Database Design. New York City: Apress, 272 s.
978-1590597699.
ISC VUT Brno. 2013. . [online] International Students Club. [accessed 16-5-2013]
Availible at: www.isc.vutbr.cz
VALACICH, Christoph. 2007. Information Systems Today. New Jersey: Prentice Hall,
624 s. 978-0132335065.
KEN LAUDON, Jane. 2009. Management Information Systems. New Jersey: Prentice
Hall, 672 s. 978-0136078463.
60
KOCH, M.; NENIČKOVÁ, H.; HRŮZA,T.; DOVRTĚL, J. Management
informačních systémů. Brno : CERM, 2010. 171 s. ISBN 978-80-214-4157- 6
LOUIS M. REA, Richard. 1997. Designing and Conducting Survey Research. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 272 s. 978-0787908102.
NAEP. 2013. Program Erasmus. [cit. ] Availible at: http://www.naep.cz/erasmus
RAMEZ ELMASRI, Shamkant. 2003. Fundamentals of Database Systems. Boston:
Addison Wesley, 1009 s. 978-0321122261.
SectionBox. 2013. . [online] SectionBox. [accessed 16-5-2013] vailible at:
https://sectionbox.org/
Trello. 2013. . [online] Trello Board: TIISC (Task and Ideas of ISC VUT). [accessed
16-5-2013] Availible at: https://trello.com/board/tiisc-tasks-ideas-ofisc/5184c5ba5048285c7b0061e1
61
List o f figures
Figure 1: Data, information, knowledge (VALAC ICH, 2007, p. 20).
......................................................................................... 12
F i g u r e 2 : I n f o r m a t i o n s ys t e m ( K O C H , 2 0 1 0 , p . 5 ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4
Figure 3: Example of relationship diagram (ELMASRI, 2003, p.
52). ................................................................................... 18
Figure 4: Implementation of IS ( BRANDON, 2006, p. 84) .......... 20
Figure 5: ISC VUT organization chart (ISC VUT Brno 2013) ...... 22
Figure 6: Electronic mailing list structure of ISC VUT (ISC VUT
Brno 2013) ......................................................................... 33
Figure 7: Facebook communication of ISC VUT (ISC VUT Brno
2013) ................................................................................. 35
Figure 8: Trello working environment of ISC VUT (Trello 2013) 37
Figure 9: Level of experience of I T responsible in ESN sections
(ESN AISBL 2013) ............................................................... 43
Figure 10: Relations diagram ................................................. 44
Figure 11: Member recruitment .............................................. 54
List o f ta bles
Table 1: Teams division (ISC VUT Brno 2013) ........................ 24
Table 2: Team members division (ISC VUT Brno 2013) ............ 30
Table
3: Internal communication of ISC VUT (ISC VUT Brno
2013) ................................................................................. 31
Table 4: List of email contacts of ISC VUT (ISC VUT Brno 2013)
......................................................................................... 32
Table 5: ISC VUT meetings comparison (own work). ............... 36
T a b l e 6 : C o m p a r i s o n o f b u d d y a n d m e n t o r s ys t e m ( o w n w o r k ) . . . . 3 8
Table 7: Mandatory activities of a buddy (own work) ............... 39
Table 8: Categories of ISC VUT events (own work) ................. 40
Table
9: Evaluation of event registration process (based on
feedback from Open hours team) ............................................ 40
62
Table
10: Evaluation of currently used tools (based on Board
meeting feedback) ................................................................ 42
Table 11: User attributes - personal information ...................... 45
Table 12: User attributes - study information .......................... 45
Table 13: User attributes - section information ....................... 46
T a b l e 1 4 : U s e r a t t r i b u t e s - s ys t e m i n f o r m a t i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6
Table 15: Exchange student attributes - personal information .... 46
Table 16: Exchange student attributes - study information ........ 47
Table 17: Exchange student attributes - pick up information ...... 47
Table
1 8 : E x c h a n g e s t u d e n t a t t r i b u t e s - b u d d y s ys t e m i n f o r m a t i o n
......................................................................................... 48
Table 19: Exchange student attributes - other information ......... 48
Table 20: Event attributes .................................................... 48
Table 21: Member applicant form .......................................... 51
Table 22: Buddy applicant form ............................................ 51
Table 23: Exchange student registration form .......................... 52
Table 24: Event form ........................................................... 52
Table 25: Event registration form .......................................... 52
Table 26: User groups modules visibility ................................ 57
63
Appendices
Appendix 1: User module ..................................................... 65
Appendix 2: Buddy module ................................................... 66
Appendix 3: Event module ................................................... 67
A p p e n d i x 4 : S ys t e m m o d u l e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 8
64
Appendix 1: User module
Appendix 2: Buddy module
Appendix 3: Event module
Appendix 4: System module
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